Bryan came up to the Bay Area to visit us here on the boat during his spring break! Unfortunately, he's leaving tomorrow afternoon but it's been a fun week (flew by too fast). It's been wonderful to see him since I haven't seen him in so long.
Anyhow, Ian and I thought we'd give him a taste of the "real" San Francisco - the part that you never see if you only go into the city for Pier 39 and Union Square shopping. And by "real" San Francisco, I mean the Inner Sunset and Castro neighborhoods (my favorite), golden gate park, riding the Muni streetcars all through the city, a taste of Swensen's ice cream in Marina/Cow Hollow neighborhood, climbing the old military bunkers in the Presidio, and of course, sailing on the bay.
After his arrival, we spent a relaxing evening on the boat. The next morning was looking pretty good, so we decided to go out on a quick morning sail near Emeryville. Bryan seemed a little nervous at first, but once we went through a few turns and he got a chance to pilot the boat himself with his hands on the tiller, he seemed more relaxed. I think when you don't know what's going on or how things work it's more scary, but once he felt the sturdy tiller and understood the dynamics of sailing, he was more at ease.
Don't worry mom & dad, we wore our new trendy life jackets :)
Motoring out of the Emeryville marina
Bryan on watch - scanning the horizon for other ships
Checking the wind vane at the top of the mast for wind direction and adjusting our heading accordingly
After a quick morning sail, we headed to the Emeryville Public Market for a delicious lunch of greek gyros, fish & chips, and persian lamb shank while watching the soccer game on TV.
Another day, we hopped into San Francisco to drop off Ian's Dad's car and ended up having a great lunch in the Castro at my favorite Cafe Flore (flank steak salad was delicious!), then drinking tea at the historic F-line streetcar turnaround on Market and Castro streets. As we were finishing up lunch, we noticed one of the streets being closed off to traffic. I had a feeling about what this was ... and I was right! Farmer's market!! So, of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab some fresh veggies for dinner!
Leeks, fennel, carrots, brussel sprouts, and garlic ready for tonight's campfire roast dinner
Bryan setting up our grill here at the marina
Fire started
Veggies all nicely roasted in garlic and butter (of course! :-p) on the fire
Auntie Patrina and Callie came by to enjoy the campfire dinner. We had ginger ale, the roasted veggies, and some slider burgers - and it wasn't all that cold or windy outside either. Just a great evening with family.
Yesterday, with the sun out in full warmth, we headed into San Francisco to show Bryan the City By The Bay that he had not seen before. It was our most adventurous day yet!
Climbing on top of the old batteries (the forts along the hillside where cannons used to be mounted for defense) in the Presidio
Ian describing all of the forts and cannon batteries that were mounted along the cliffs of the Marin headlands (in the distance).
:-) Brothers! You can see the entrance in the hillside to an underground bunker to the right of the photo
Sailboats along the Marin headlands outside of the Golden Gate Bridge
Beautiful old, weather-beaten cyprus trees
The old ruins of the Sutro Baths. There used to be a big glass building on this site which was home to multiple freshwater and saltwater baths/hot springs. Unfortunately there was a fire which burned the building down back in the day but it's fun to imagine how cool it would have been to be swimming in a warm pool with the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing along the cliffs right in front of you
At the Dutch windmill in Golden Gate Park
Tulips in full bloom at the windmill
Finished off with a drive through twisty Lombard St. Not a bad week :)
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